While maneuvering the fire engine through street corners, Klein's ears are glued to the radio. One question is on his mind: Is an on-call firefighter coming?

Townsend has 40 on-call firefighters, but they can rarely get to an emergency site on time. Or, no one may show up, which occurs about twice a year.

"During the day, I get lucky if I get one or two," Klein said, of on-call responses.

Knowing each second counts in an emergency, Klein will typically wait for only two minutes before determining if he needs mutual aid. Still, it takes time for firefighters coming from outside towns to arrive on scene.

The concerns over the scarcity of available on-call firefighters prompted Townsend to add four full-time firefighters in 2007 through new hiring and the merger of the town's emergency services. Until then, only the chief and a secretary manned the department.

The increased staffing only allowed daytime coverage. Two of those firefighters have since left.

City day jobs and a faster pace of life have forced many people to give up on the extra responsibility that comes with being a volunteer firefighter, according to Westminster Fire Chief Brenton MacAloney

The department has 14 on-call firefighters who earn between $12 to $16 per hour. MacAloney said he needs at least 25.

Advertisement

In 2010, four candidates graduated from the intensive six-month, 322-hour training course, but only one ended up staying with the department. Last year, only two candidates graduated from the program.

The department employs six full-time firefighters, allowing MacAloney to staff two firefighters at all times. Holes in shifts are filled with per-diem firefighters, part-timers who work set schedules but do not earn benefits.

"It's great today, and I'm thrilled to have two people around the clock, but when we need lots of bodies, we just don't have what we need," said MacAloney.

Many Massachusetts towns are being forced to hire more full-time firefighters to make up for the dwindling pool of on-call/volunteer firefighters, according to Tom Burnett, executive vice president of Massachusetts Call/Volunteer Firefighters Association. The shortage has particularly hit the western part of the state, as factories that allowed employees to respond to fire calls began to disappear, he said.

"Times have changed," Wodzinski said. "People are now busier with their families and jobs -- or second jobs."

The shortage of on-call firefighters comes amid the growing demands for fire and EMT services and shrinking town budgets.

Townsend received 1,600 calls in 2012, up from 1,100 in 2007. In Lunenburg, Chief Patrick Sullivan said population growth has increased his department's workload.

"We don't get the same number of fires, but you get alarms, carbon-monoxide calls, service calls. We operate the ambulance," said Sullivan, whose department employs four full-time and 41 on-call firefighters.

In Ashburnham, Fire Chief Paul Zbikowski is seeking approval from town officials to add two full-time firefighters to the department's staff of four. His goal is to staff a paramedic around the clock.

"It's not what it used to be," he said, referring to the availability of his 30 on-call firefighters. 'People are so active. Some are hockey parents, so they're not available because of all the things their kids are involved in. Others are working two to three jobs."

Towns get more responses from on-call firefighters at night and on weekends than weekdays, say chiefs. It takes longer for people to respond at night, however, as it takes time for them to get out of bed and defrost car windshields during winter months.

Klein said the on-call staff availability slightly improved for a few years after the 2008 economic crisis because those out of work were at home. Unless residents answer the call to for on-call fighters, chiefs say they will be forced to seek more full-time employees.

"The only thing that prevents me from coming back and asking for more full-time people is someone here has to be an on-call firefighter," said MacAloney. "You or your children have to come and want to knock on the door, or we'll be looking for more full-time people."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.